Sunday, July 20, 2008

Ok, I am new so where can I sell stock photographs? or Sell photographs for money? how do I compete with all the professionals and what do I do?

Many agencies require high quality, high standards of photographs taken by very expensive cameras and which are used by large advertising agencies. this maybe out of some peoples leagues for now, but there is hope...

Well, think about it. The large stock agencies sell high quality photographs by professional photographers like those above to large, wealthy companies! So who sells photos to the smaller businesses that can't afford the large prices? You do! If you have any decent photographs on your computer or are willing to go out and take a few, I will show you where to send them.

You will need good photographs of everyday subjects that I will cover in a minute, but if you have a digital camera of 3 mega pixels or more...read on!

Now this is a system that I for one hadn't looked at before, I have always put my stock photographs on with the large agencies and they make good money but not that often and the competition is fierce. Corbis have over 3,500,000 images on their files. How do you compete?

I came across a rapidly growing company that charges very low prices for its photographs (approximately $139 will get you 750 images in a month if you are buying). Now this means there are people constantly on this site downloading photographs and they need more...a lot more images to keep up with the growth.

As a submitting photographer, you only get 30 cents per photograph downloaded, but each buyer will download a minimum of 750 images each month therefore thousands of images are downloaded daily. If they are just sitting unseen on your PC, what do you have to lose?

When I started, I tested this site and referred a photographer to them and with just his 35 images of motocross bikes online; he had sold 9 images in the first 6 days. I tried it myself and uploaded a sunset picture and in 3 days I had sold 3 copies. The way I see it, and according to the company's forums, if you have 1000-2000 images on their database, you should easily earn around $600 per month. All you need is 100 downloads a day and you have it for life! Or all the while the company trades.

One Year On Update - I now have just over 1,200 images with them and have sold over 23,000 photos. I am earning around the above figure every month and it just seems to be getting better.

This is the image I uploaded

The great thing is that they have now started a new system and a bunch of new sites whereby you will earn just over $1 per image downloaded so it just gets better. Your images get uploaded here automatically so there is less work for you!

Plus...If you sell an image with an "extended license", you will earn $20!

I expect to hear from professionals saying this is bad for stock photography, but I disagree. This is just another sector of the market that caters for the beginner and amateur photographer, as well as the smaller business wanting to buy stock.

So, if you have any images of 4MB or more that would be suitable, and they are just sitting on your PC, you are wasting money. I uploaded 50 yesterday and am waiting for their approval. They are the same as the ones I have on with a larger agency and I will earn a lot less, but it is still more than I had before yes?

sign up and registration is genuine and absolutely free so you have nothing to lose, and the beauty is that once they are there, you have an income for life! Once you have registered, look at their "Best sellers" and other types of photos that they have and start uploading. Use the forums for advice and start earning. How much are your pictures earning you at the moment?